This competing proposal is Jackson State University's (JSU) request to continue the development of excellence in interdisciplinary biomedical research. In accordance with the University's goal to foster a research environment of excellence, support is requested for science faculty members to conduct competitive research. Support from this program will enable JSU to: (1) improve and expand the institution's biomedical research capability; (2) increase the number and further develop minority faculty expertise in biomedical research; (3) increase the number and quality of papers submitted by faculty for publication in refereed journals; and (4) increase the number of proposals submitted for funding. Biomedical investigations will be conducted in the following areas: environmental microbiology, signal transduction, molecular genetics, environmental plant microbiology, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, bio-organic chemistry, physical organic chemistry, computational chemistry, biophotonics, and computational physics. Facilities for the management and research activities which will house the SCORE Program will be provided through the College of Science, Engineering and Technology. Also, the College of Science, Engineering and Technology will provide multi-user core laboratories for faculty research. Support for additional equipment (LC-ICP-MS system and Time-resolved fluorescence spectrometer) is requested in the multi-user core laboratory facility. [unreadable] [unreadable]